Project Details

A project, completed in 2012, to test the validity and reliability of the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision, and Nurse Teacher (CLES+T) scale as a tool for assessing students' perception of the quality of their learning in hospital settings. A collaboration of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology and Turku University of Applied Sciences, Turku, Finland.

Aims

The main aims of the project were to:

  • determine the face validity of the Clinical Learning Environment, Supervision and Nurse Teacher Scale (CLES+T) for evaluating the quality of the clinical learning environment, supervision, and teaching of nursing students in hospital and community settings in New Zealand
  • explore the construct validity of the CLES+T in hospital settings in New Zealand
  • confirm whether the CLEST+T has the same construct structure in hospital settings in New Zealand as has been reported in Finland
  • evaluate the internal reliability of the sub-dimensions of the CLES+T in the context of hospital settings in New Zealand
  • describe nursing students’ perceptions of their clinical learning environment, supervision and teaching in hospital settings in New Zealand
  • pilot test the feasibility of using Digium Enterprises internet-based information collection and feedback management software service for distributing evaluative surveys and for collecting and analysing information.

Methodology:

The project methodology involved:

  • an online survey of students in Bachelor of Nursing programmes who were completing a hospital based clinical placement
  • statistical analysis to establish whether the CLES+T survey is a valid tool for assessing nursing students' perception of the quality of their learning in hospital settings in New Zealand.

Team

ara

Dr Philippa Seaton

Project Leader

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (now Ara Institute of Technology)
ara

Deborah Sims

Project Leader

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
ara

Paul Watson

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
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Rose Whittle

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
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Isabel Jamieson

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
ara

Jane Mountier

Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
Turku university of applies sciences logo

Mikko Saarikoski

Turku University of Applied Sciences, Turku, Finland

Status

Completed

Funding

$9,828.00 (excl GST)

$9,828.00 Regional Hub Project Fund

Key Findings

The key findings from the project included:

  • In phase one, most of the panel agreed all the items on the CLES+T have face validity for evaluating student nurses’ perceptions of clinical learning environments, supervision and teaching in both hospital and community settings in New Zealand. However, minor alterations may be required to some items in order to improve their face validity.
  • In determining the construct validity of the CLES+T, Exploratory Factor Analysis found the strongest statistical support for a four-factor model: connecting with, and learning in, communities of clinical practice; role of the nurse teacher; supervisory relationship; and leadership style of the manager.
  • The results demonstrate that the CLES+T is a reliable tool to measure student nurses’ perceptions of their clinical learning environments, supervision, and nurse teachers in hospital settings in New Zealand.
  • Only limited comparison of specific factors between this study and that of Saarikoski et al. (2008) in Finland were possible. On the two identical factors (supervisory relationship and nurse teacher) the results show that NZ nursing students from CPIT rate their relationship with their supervisor and their nurse teacher significantly higher than do Finnish nursing students.
  • There were significant differences in student’ place in the BN programme (year 1, 2, or 3) on students’ perceptions of three of the four factors. There is an increasingly positive perception of connecting with, and learning in, communities of clinical practice as students’ progress through the three years of the programme. First year students perceived their nurse teacher significantly better than both second and third year students. On average, third year students perceived significantly better supervisory relationships than second year students.
  • There is a significant correlation between duration of the placement and students’ perception of their clinical learning environment. As the duration of the placement increased the students’ perception of connecting with, and learning in, communities of clinical practice increased, as did their perception of the supervisory relationship, however their perception of the nurse teacher decreased.

Key Recommendations

The key recommendation from the project was:

Use the CLES+T | Construct validity and reliability data from this study support the use of the CLES+T to evaluate students’ clinical learning environments in hospital settings in New Zealand. The CLES+T appears to have sufficient validity and reliability to be used by researchers, educators and clinicians who wish to monitor the quality of clinical learning environments.

Evaluating the Quality of Workplace Learning for Student Nurses in Hospital Settings

A report prepared by Deborah Sims, Paul Watson, Philippa Seaton, Rose Whittle, Isabel Jamieson, Mikko Saarikoski and Jane Mountier.

(PDF, 400 KB, 9-pages).

  • 1 December 2012
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